Water polo goalie Haley Derrod of Eastlake High School practiced last week with her team at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. She blocked 902 shots in her high school career. Earnie Grafton • U-T

When Haley Derrod was a freshman at Eastlake High looking for a sport to get into shape to play softball, her friends encouraged her to try water polo.

Not a great swimmer, Derrod humored her pals.

“Water polo was the most random sport I could have chosen,” says the Bucknell University-bound senior who has since jettisoned softball. “I played goalie on the varsity as a freshman because I was the only player who could eggbeater.”

For those unfamiliar with water polo, an eggbeater is what the goalies do with their legs to raise the upper part of their bodies as far out of the water as possible, making a bigger obstruction when the other team attempts a shot.

It’s not easy, especially in a sport where touching the bottom of the pool is prohibited.

Derrod has eggbeatered her way to blocking 902 shots in her career, zipping past the San Diego Section record of 884 by University of San Diego High’s Kaylee Caster (2001-2005).

“A CIF record means a lot — it’s crazy, but I didn’t come into the sport wanting to break the record,” said the 5-foot-7 Derrod. “When you think about it, that record covers a lot of teams.

“I broke the record against El Capitan (a 7-4 victory), and my whole family was there. They gave me a standing ovation, and the El Capitan fans wondered what was going on.”

Derrod is the first to admit that water polo in the South Bay will never be the standard by which others are measured and by finishing the season with a 16-12 record, the Titans did not make the playoffs.

“We hold our own,” Derrod said. “As one of the four captains, I know if I give up, the others will, too. The thing about water polo compared with softball is you get the ball back after the other team scores and you have 30 seconds to make something happen. In softball, I’ve seen players think about a mistake for 20 minutes.

“I believe we can always win or at least come back to have a chance at the end. Only four of our losses have been by more than two goals.”

She gets her competitiveness by playing with the San Diego Shores club team, which has some of the best players in the county. Last summer, they went to Hungary for two weeks, playing against world-class competition almost every day.

It was a major learning experience.

“I thought they’d be big and bruising,” she said, “but they weren’t much bigger than we were. In Hungary, water polo is the sport. They didn’t have to play dirty because they were good, fast and strong.

“But we held our own against their Junior National team, and it was such a great trip. I feel I’m 100 times better than before.”

Derrod, who was named the Mesa League co-MVP this season, said she brings a lot of the things she learns with the Shores back and shares them with her teammates, none of whom plays club water polo, and with a 4.32 GPA, she learns quickly.

She has also scored five goals this year. One of the two goals Derrod scored against Poway was a classic that even met her tough standards.

“I saw the goalie move to one side where we had an open player,” she said of the 3-meter-wide goal a quarter of a football field away. “I knew I could get it to the other side before she could react — and it went in!”